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Steve Martinez knew what was required of him upon his ring return following a year-long break. The Bronx-based Nuyorican went from a Showtime-televised appearance 12 months ago to the opening bout of a seven-fight card last weekend at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.
His super welterweight battle with Jorge Melendez was just one of two bouts on the card that didn’t garner TV time –Luis Ortiz’ 7th round knockout of Bryant Jennings headlined an HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader, while three more fights aired via same-day tape day on HBO Latino. He could have enjoyed a better fate, but the path he chose led to audition status rather than showcase.
“Being out for 12 months, that’s on me 100%,” Martinez (16-2, 13KOs) admitted to BoxingScene.com. “I had surgery after my fight with Chris Pearson (Martinez dropped a 10-round decision in their Shobox clash last December) and the rest was just me being immature – I wanted to be busy, but I didn’t get myself in the right shape.
“We got back in the gym in August for this fight, which was supposed to be in October but moved to this show. We made sure to be ready for this fight and the end result showed it.”
While the first bout of the night on Saturday, Martinez held the distinction of owning the evening’s lone knockout after having dropped and stopped Melendez (29-6, 27KOs) in two rounds. Five more bouts followed, all going the distance before Ortiz ended the evening with an emphatic knockout to announce his arrival as a major player in the heavyweight division.
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His super welterweight battle with Jorge Melendez was just one of two bouts on the card that didn’t garner TV time –Luis Ortiz’ 7th round knockout of Bryant Jennings headlined an HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader, while three more fights aired via same-day tape day on HBO Latino. He could have enjoyed a better fate, but the path he chose led to audition status rather than showcase.
“Being out for 12 months, that’s on me 100%,” Martinez (16-2, 13KOs) admitted to BoxingScene.com. “I had surgery after my fight with Chris Pearson (Martinez dropped a 10-round decision in their Shobox clash last December) and the rest was just me being immature – I wanted to be busy, but I didn’t get myself in the right shape.
“We got back in the gym in August for this fight, which was supposed to be in October but moved to this show. We made sure to be ready for this fight and the end result showed it.”
While the first bout of the night on Saturday, Martinez held the distinction of owning the evening’s lone knockout after having dropped and stopped Melendez (29-6, 27KOs) in two rounds. Five more bouts followed, all going the distance before Ortiz ended the evening with an emphatic knockout to announce his arrival as a major player in the heavyweight division.
[Click Here To Read More]